I’m currently running the bridge 1.0. I’ve just started week 3. So far I’ve hit 80×4@9 on close grip bench (not paused) and 75×5@9 on the 1ct paused bench (overshot goal of 8 RPE in week 2) which gives a higher 1RM for the close grip bench. It could be that the pause makes the 5kg difference but I wouldn’t have expected the difference to be so great. Should I make an alteration to my technique/programming such as doing all of my pressing close grip or just carry on and see if my regular width paused bench increases relative to my close grip? Thanks
The pause will definitely make a difference, and you could have had some technique things going on with your 1ct paused bench if you are not accustomed to the pause. So not changes are needed, as with more benching of both variation, you will improve. Your regular bench press should indeed move up with time and practice.